Lego
What Lego Can Teach You In Your Business
I was blessed as a child to receive lego, I still have memories of sitting at the table building sets that were just out of this world to me as a 6 year old. As the years went on and more sets added, more choice was given and building different worlds became available. For me I believe Lego is the reason I love building businesses and love being creative (let’s hope they don’t bill me for their time).
But Lego is much more than the brick, it’s an established business, something that you can take the learnings from, after all they are well over 90 years old as i write this, most businesses would be happy with five or ten years! so what’s the secret, what can we take from their story and think about adapting into ours?
The quick answers are they built the best brand, they evolve daily, they partner with the right people, they built a hell of a following, they focus on storytelling not sales, they use tech to their advantage, they care! But more so, they just service their ‘Why’. Lego is all about Play Well and feeding your imagination, it’s never been about sales or status. It’s accessible to everyone and creates the ultimate escapism.
Even taking one element, let’s say partnering with the right people would have an impact on your business just like it did theirs. Do you think they would be so successful without partnering with Star Wars or Harry Potter for example. The same can be said for your business, you are great as you are, but could you power up with another business or brand.
Read on for our breakdown of the Lego story, successes and how it can help you in your busieness: -
Quick History
In 1930s when Danish carpenter Ole Kirk Christiansen started a small company in Billund, Denmark, crafting wooden household items. In 1934, he named the company "Lego," derived from the Danish words "leg godt," meaning "play well." After a fire in 1942 destroyed their workshop, Christiansen decided to focus on making high-quality plastic toys. In 1947, Lego began producing plastic interlocking bricks, laying the foundation for the modern Lego system we know today.
The key turning point came in 1958 when the company patented the design for the modern interlocking brick with its cylindrical studs and tubes. This design allowed for a tighter, more secure connection, enhancing the versatility and playability of the sets.
The focus on creativity and imagination, along with a commitment to learning through play, has been a consistent theme throughout the company's history.
“There are 86 LEGO bricks for every person on earth. LEGO produces 318 million LEGO tires a year, or over 870,000 each day. LEGO sells over 400 million tires each year, which makes LEGO the world’s largest tire manufacturer. There are over 400 billion LEGO bricks in the world..”
Business Learning
Lego has achieved notable marketing successes through several strategies: it’s ability to talk to all ages gives it a super power that most brands don'‘t have. It can bring out a real creativity or real satisfaction from connecting and building that allows an escapism from our day to day life. The emotion it evokes even years later is unmatched, as I write this I have several brilliant lego sets around me, not to play with but to remind me of my inner child.
Lego continues to understand how the product makes people feel and then evolves the generations. A Lego Pac Man machine is unlikely to mean as much to a 5 year old as it would to me at 44, and similarly the latest avengers set will mean more to the next generation and so on. Lego has continued to ‘feed’ the imagination of a vast audience but kept it’s message and values the same.
Over the last few years celebs like David Beckham, Ed Sheeran and Chris Ramsey have all openly shared stories about what they have recently built, which just shows it really is for everyone.
Here are some things to look at that Lego does exceptionally well: -
Brand Identity and Consistency
Lego has maintained a strong and consistent brand identity over the years, emphasising creativity, imagination, and family values. The iconic Lego brick and the "Play Well" tagline have become synonymous with the brand. Very few people wouldn’t know what lego is and has encouraged a play message over a selling message, meaning you can see yourself building it, picturing the fun and enjoying the end results.
Lego is the epitome of consistency, the bricks predominately stay the same but evolve as special pieces are needed. With that it’s own language has formed and asking someone for a ‘sixer’ for example is normal behaviour. One major marketing genius is that sets are limited, so over the years are removed from sale meaning they enter a collectors arena.
Learning: Building a brand is a continuous job, but invest in it and you’ll have something that customers can warm to, easy identify you and feel part of. Having brand guidelines gives you a set of rules to think about operationally. So when you partner or post for example you will think about whether it’s a good fit for what your trying to achieve with the brand.
“The first LEGO Minifigures in 1978 had yellow skin, two black dots for eyes, and a wide smile to represent people from anywhere in the world. In 2003, the LEGO group gave Minifigures realistic skin tones, facial expressions, and modeled hair.”
’Cult Like’ Following
I doubt there is a brand that has a bigger following, Lego set the way and the rest followed. By setting the message about play well and building a consistent product, Lego has been able to amass millions of followers that not only follow them, buy from them but actually create designs for them.
Learning: To build a following you have to build something worth following, you also have to accept it’s not for everyone. Your job is to feed the audience with the information, not sell them into the product or service. Over time you will build a following of people who want to follow you and hang on your every word, they will help you build the audience naturally because they spread the word.
They Continue To Evolve
Lego continually innovates its product line, introducing new themes and collaborations with popular franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Marvel. This keeps their offerings fresh and appealing to a broad audience and gives them something new and fresh to communicate with.
Learning: We know all to well of the big companies closing down, certainly the economic climate has an impact but so does the ability to evolve. I believe Blockbusters would still be here if it had adopted the Netflix approach and evolved for whats needed in 2020+. Your job is the same; the world, seasons, economy, team, generations, tech, platforms all change on a regular basis so you must too.
Engaging Content and Focus On Storytelling
Lego has created captivating stories around their products through movies, TV shows, video games, and online content. This extends the brand experience beyond the physical bricks, engaging fans and fostering a sense of community. Through their storytelling it opens up another world, another venture. In the 80’s sets were sold as sets, with a very clear product brand, we had Castle and Space for example and you bought around the theme.
Recently however and especially with the fantastic films, the encouragement is to mix the worlds. Lego have evolved their message to be in keeping with the inclusion message we live by today. It in fairness is an easy transition for kids as they will mix to build anyway and very rarely do I see bricks separated into sets or colours. Making it the norm for Harry Potter to be up front in the football set or Emmet to be in the Millennium Falcon removes any barriers and allows new and better stories to be told.
Learning: We as humans are conditions to like stories, telling them and listening to them, so it’s not a surprise to know that content that has stories in will perform so well. Lego tells it’s story not just personally but each product it sells. Add this approach to your business to let people understand you, the brand and your products/ services in a more personal way.
“In 2009, James May in Surrey, Great Britain, created the first full-sized LEGO house with 3.3 million bricks. It included a working toilet, shower, and a bed, which were all made out of LEGO bricks.”
Interactive Marketing Campaigns
Lego employs interactive and engaging marketing campaigns, like user-generated content contests, building challenges, and events that encourage audience participation and creativity. They have mapped out the future by recognising how people will react in the future and invested in tech that will service that need. Traditionally Lego is as far away from online and must remain so, but by adding interactivity to the experience they are future proofing themselves (whilst marketing at the same time).
Learning: Not content with simple clicking bricks together, Lego has thought about the future and how to ‘gamified’ the experience further. By bringing in apps and interactive tech it opens up to more reasons to keep using the brand. Can you do this in your business? can you invest in tech that give your customers something that is worthy of investing their time into, that helps them in some way. Remember that will be unique to you, your competitors can’t easily offer that.
Strong Online Presence and Social Media Engagement
Leveraging social media platforms effectively, Lego maintains an active online presence, engaging with their audience through captivating content, interactive campaigns, and responding to customer feedback promptly. You could forgive Lego for thinking that children aren’t a social media audience per se, but through tablets, apps Lego get in early and not only are available but lead the way in interactivity and gamification. Just check out their instagram account for example, 9.5 million followers, being regularly updated with not sales but ideas (aka Value).
Learning: They keep in their customers minds through socials, rather than posting just for the sake of posting there is an obvious plan across each of their platforms, they have recognised the need to deliver certain content to certain platforms. Just as mentioned above the content isn’t about selling the set, the set will sell itself, it’s about entertaining its audience to watch. Your business should do the same, sell the story, sell the benefit and sell your uniqueness.
Licensing and Partnerships
Collaborations with popular franchises and brands have broadened Lego's appeal, attracting fans of those franchises to the Lego products, resulting in successful co-branded sets and themes. I stand firm on my belief that without this partnership strategy they wouldn’t be half the powerhouse they are. The product is fantastic, the ethos and values mind blowing but without the relevance they wouldn’t have their success. Each collab becomes it’s own eco-system, Star Wars, Batman, Architecture, Harry Potter (the list goes on) super charge the users need to get involved as it personally speaks to them individually.
Learning: Quite a learning this one for most businesses! you might think your out there alone but there are so many collabs and possible partnerships to get involved in. Customers are looking for a complete solution for their challenge, so if you have to work with others to deliver it so be it. You might build websites but can’t do SEO, their’s an opportunity, you might
““Every person around the world would own an average of 86 LEGO bricks”.”
Retail and Theme Parks
Lego operates branded retail stores and theme parks, offering a unique and immersive Lego experience to customers, further enhancing brand visibility and engagement. It’s another touching point on the Lego experience, think Walt Disney, by creating a magical world you tap into the child’s world and keep the message and brand alive. It’s not about the rides, it’s about the experience, about seeing Lego in another story or way. In every kids mind they create a place or haven that is right for them, Lego did the same they built Legoland (an imagination on steroids).
Learning: I’m not suggesting you build a theme park! but the learning here is about expanding the brand with add ons that compliment you. Could you build an app, a tool or sponsor something that is relevant to your industry or target market? Lego have taken what they have and built in on a bigger scale, to show that its possible, over to you, what can you do to show people that you too can create something great (outside of your daily offering).
Educational Outreach
Lego has made efforts to integrate their products into educational settings, promoting the use of Lego in schools and learning environments. This strategic move not only boosts sales but also aligns with their brand values of promoting creativity and learning. It strengthens their ‘WHY’, I believe Lego isn’t about cash and profits, it’s about feeding their why of Play Well (the rest falls into place). BY being passionate about this allows Lego the freedom to build and create what they want over what they need.
Learning: The real learning here is about investing in our world, whether the future (the children) or the environment, it’s become more transparent recently of who has the best values and are likely to be a company you want to operate with. Those embracing a more sustainable future will win as the next generations will demand more than our predecessors. Look at how your business can make a difference and watch the feel good factor flood through the business and customers alike.
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You could spend days analysing Lego and still would only just scratch the surface, the point of any of the above is that they have always been way ahead of their time. Without the fire that changed the mindset from Wood to Plastic, they wouldn’t be here right now, but everything then on in was visionary. Without doubt even with everything they have achieved and the billions they generated their biggest success is that they stuck to their why and allowed a cult like following of hardcore lego fanatics to follow them, not just for 1 or 2 years but for most life.
You can take the learnings into your business to better prepare and future proof you and your employees for evermore. Companies like Lego just have it right, to ignore the learnings would be insanity, we all need great people to look up to and follow, Lego just might be the ones to help you ‘Build’ (just not brick by brick).
